The Internet Wiretap 1st Online Edition of
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY
by
AMBROSE BIERCE
Copyright 1911 by Albert and Charles Boni, Inc.
A Public Domain Text, Copyright Expired
Released April 15 1993
Entered by Aloysius of &tSftDotIotE
aloysius@west.darkside.com
PREFACE
The Devil's Dictionary_ was begun in a weekly paper
in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long
intervals until 1906. In that year a large part of it
was published in covers with the title _The Cynic's Word
Book_, a name which the author had not the power to
reject or happiness to approve. To quote the publishers
of the present work:
"This more reverent title had previously been forced upon him by
the religious scruples of the last newspaper in which a part of
the work had appeared, with the natural consequence that when it
came out in covers the country already had been flooded by its
imitators with a score of 'cynic' books -- The Cynic's This, The
Cynic's That, and The Cynic's t'Other. Most of these books were
merely stupid, though some of them added the distinction of
silliness. Among them, they brought the word 'cynic' into
disfavor so deep that any book bearing it was discredited in
advance of publication."
Meantime, too, some of the enterprising humorists of the
country had helped themselves to such parts of the work
as served their needs, and many of its definitions,
anecdotes, phrases and so forth, had become more or less
current in popular speech. This explanation is made, not
with any pride of priority in trifles, but in simple
denial of possible charges of plagiarism, which is no
trifle. In merely resuming his own the author hopes to
be held guiltless by those to whom the work is addressed
-- enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense
to sentiment, wit to humor and clean English to slang. A
conspicuous, and it is hope not unpleasant, feature of
the book is its abundant illustrative qu